Or can you? What’s the price than that you have to pay? Is it worth it? These are the questions that came to my mind after reading The Changeling. De Flores was able to achieve what seemed to be impossible at the beginning of the play. He was disrespected and despised by the woman that he was so obsessed with. The likelihood of his ever getting Beatrice’s attention was equal to zero at the time when the plot started. From this perspective the play is De Flores’ success story where the unlikely hero realizes his dream.
De Flores knew right away that his time had come when Beatrice asked him to get rid of Alonzo, and he grabbed the opportunity. He was so obsessed with her that he didn’t think a moment about the evil deed of stabbing her suitor to death. He knew his goal and he did everything to realize it. He succeeded; he got what he wanted, but the cost was tremendous. He committed two homicides and also the young and innocent Beatrice whom he was madly in love with has changed beyond recognition. All of this happened for the opportunity of having one sexual act with her. De Flores was a smart guy; if he wasn’t so obsessed he must have realized that at the end they will not live “happily ever after.” Instead of this they both end up dead. De Flores was so blinded by his goal to pursue Beatrice that he did not realize that this end is inevitable.
You can’t always get what you want – it is better this way. In order to be successful the advice is to set a goal and work your way toward it. It is something that is worth to take into consideration, but first, one should realize that there are things that not worth to pursue, and that another saying,“the end justifies the means” is also not an absolute one.
Nothing is absolute. Every decision, every event, every happening that goes on in our lives can change in a heartbeat. If everything did turn out exactly as one wished it, life would be boring and unappealing. The fact that nothing is absolute makes our lives worth living. But does that mean that things that seem to be out of reach should be discarded? No, sometimes it is the forbidden fruit or the unattainable that makes a person try his/her hardest. De Flores most likely in the deepest parts of his soul knew that his actions would not bring the perfect ending but had he not done anything, his chance at that one moment of true happiness would’ve been lost. Can it be argued that his actions were not worth the end result? It can be. But can it also be argued that if he had not taken that chance, that he would regret it for the rest of his life? It can as well. It is up to the person to decide whether or not that choice should be made.
These two points of view complement each other. Zsolt reminds us of the way normal life really works, while Peter reflects on the pleasures of literary exploration. Jacobean drama examines what happens when the normal is not enough.